As telecommunications technologies advance, new and different telecommunications services are being offered to consumers. Many households now have two or more telephone lines, and many people carry portable telephones, also known as mobile or cellular telephones. This means that a person is often associated with several telephone numbers, also known as calling line numbers or directory numbers. An individual's business card may list as many as six different directory numbers including an office telephone number, an office fax machine number, a mobile telephone number, a pager number, a home telephone number, and a home fax machine number.
Because of the expanded demands for telecommunications service, a metropolitan area that was adequately served by a single area code for over fifty years suddenly needs two or more area codes to accommodate all of the telephones, fax machines, pagers, computer modems, and mobile phones in that area. As a result, a user calling someone in a nearby neighborhood, in some cases merely across the street, may need to dial a string of ten or eleven digits instead of the traditional seven digits required in the United States. In addition to the inconvenience of longer dialing strings, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember all of the directory numbers that the user frequently calls.
The telecommunications industry has provided some relief by including programmable memories in telephones and other communications equipment, allowing users to store the directory numbers of frequently-called friends, relatives, and business associates. After storing the selected directory numbers into the equipment memory, the user need only press a button assigned to, for example, a brother's home telephone, and the telephone will automatically retrieve the brother's directory number from memory and dial it for the user. However, such memory-equipped telephones typically have limited storage capacity, and the stored directory numbers are only available when using that particular telephone. If the user uses a different telephone connected to the same telephone line, unless the second phone has been separately programmed with the same list of directory numbers, it will be necessary to dial the entire directory number because the first phone's memory is not accessible through the second phone.
Another solution provided by the telecommunications industry is a network-based speed dialing list. The user stores frequently-called directory numbers in a list maintained in memory within the telecommunications network and each stored directory number is assigned a speed dialing code. The speed dialing code is defined by the telecommunications service provider and can be, e.g., “*01” for the first memory location, “*02” for the second memory location, and so on. The speed dialing list is generally associated with the telephone line and, thus, is available to any telephone, or other communications equipment, connected to that telephone line. However, the user must remember who is associated with each assigned speed dialing code, for example, “*01” calls the brother's home telephone, “*02” calls the brother's mobile phone, “*03” calls the office fax machine, etc. For a speed dialing list with a large number of entries, it can be difficult to remember the correct speed dialing code associated with the party to be called without keeping a reference list at hand to look up the numbers. Without such a reference, existing speed dialing methods actually create a new problem of memorizing speed dialing code digits that are more or less arbitrarily assigned and have no relationship with the actual directory number in such a way that would trigger the user's memory of the party associated with any given speed dialing code.
Yet another solution provided by the telecommunications industry is the Centrex system, manufactured by companies such as Nortel Networks and Lucent Technologies. The Centrex system is an abbreviated dialing system that is used primarily by businesses. For example, many businesses allow users to dial a three or four digit extension to reach other people in their office or company. With Centrex, there is a defined group, where each member of the group is assigned an extension number, and a single defined dialing plan for all users. To reach users outside of the defined group, an escape code, such as dialing “9,” is typically required to be entered by a user. Thus, Centrex provides abbreviated dialing based on a dialing plan with predefined rules, not based on any customization by the user.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for implementing a personal dialing plan where a user can incorporate an abbreviated dialing scheme with a list or register of directory numbers of the people or locations that the user most frequently calls. There is a further need for a system and method for implementing a personal dialing plan where a user can set customized rules for abbreviated dialing based on the user's preferences and telephone service plan. Additionally, there is a need for a system and method for implementing a personal dialing plan where a user may access the user's directory number register from remote locations and where customized dialing rules are accessible and applicable from more than a single telephone or single telephone line associated with a user.